1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally to hinge mechanisms and, more particularly, to a dual-axis hinge mechanism typically used for an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic device such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, or a PDA (personal digital assistant), generally has a main body and a display cover. In general, the display cover is connected to the main body via a dual-axis hinge mechanism to realize rotating or folding-over functions, so as to facilitate adjustment of the position of the display cover relative to the user.
A typical dual-axis hinge mechanism includes a base seat, a first rotatable assembly, and a second rotatable assembly. The second rotatable assembly is pivotally connected to the base seat. The first rotatable assembly includes a pivotal shaft, a steady member, a rotary member, and an elastic member. The pivotal shaft is passed through the base seat, the steady member, and the rotary member. The base seat and the rotary member are rotatable relative to the pivotal shaft, and the steady member is non-rotatable relative to the pivotal shaft. The elastic member is configured for providing an axial force along the pivotal shaft such that the rotary member and the steady member abut each other. One of the rotary member and the steady member forms a protrusion, and the other one of rotary member and the steady member defines a recess for engaging with the protrusion. When an external force is applied to rotate the base seat and the rotary member around the pivotal shaft, the protrusion slides out of the recess, thus the base seat can be easily rotated to a desired position. Then the elastic force created by the elastic member in compressed state enable the rotary member and the steady member tightly contact each other, so that the base seat can be retained in the desired position by friction.
Because different electronic devices have a variety of display covers with different sizes and weights, different external forces are needed for rotating the display covers relative to the main bodies. However, while the typical dual-axis hinge mechanism may be used in different electronic devices, the external force for rotating the base seat is not adjustable, so the typical dual-axis hinge mechanism cannot meet different requirements. Thus the typical dual-axis hinge mechanism is inconvenient to use.
What is needed, therefore, is a new dual-axis hinge mechanism that overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages.